Two Is Better Than One
by Speezy83
Summary: After hearing a song playing on the radio Puck comes to the realization that he shouldn't have let Rachel Berry walk. He should have fought for her. Set post "Mash Up".
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. They are property of Ryan Murphy and Fox Broadcasting.**

**Thank you to my Beta, Lyric Dalton.**

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It'd been three weeks since Rachel came to break up with me on the bleachers.

Sure none of my relationships I have had in the past have lasted all that long. Most of the time it is because I decide that I am done and ready for a new and exciting model. Well, with the exceptions of Santana and Rachel.

When Santana broke up with me, I wasn't all that upset. Sure, I was pissed off at first. I mean, she'd didn't need to do it in front of everyone. I think what pissed me off the most was that she was even shallower than me. She couldn't honestly believe we would stay together long enough for my credit score to make any difference. Once I had gone to lunch that day, I was over it and moving on to the next Cheerio, who practically threw herself at me.

Never in my life did I think I would say this but, when Rachel broke it off, I actually felt like I might be losing something good. In those few days that we dated I felt like there was someone who actually cared about me. Rachel was someone who saw through my badass exterior, past my slushie throwing and house egging. Someone who believed that I could be more than just a "Lima Loser". I guess that's why I reverted to my asshole self when she told me she didn't see us working out but hoped we could still be friends. It is a hell of a lot easier to protect myself from actually putting myself out there and possibly getting hurt if she decided I wasn't good enough.

The truth is that losing Rachel made me realize that at some point between finding out Quinn was pregnant and dating Rachel I had changed, and probably for the better. The Noah Puckerman before glee and Rachel wouldn't have thought twice about how his actions affected others or cared about anyone but himself. But now it seemed like all I did was feel. Mostly, though, what I felt was hate towards myself. I hated the way Rachel would cringe when I walked by with a slushie, afraid I was going to throw it at her. I hated how much I actually missed her using more words than she needs to whenever she would describe something she cared about so passionately to me. I hated that every time she looked at me during glee she would still give me a genuine smile, even though I'd done nothing to deserve it. I hated that I could see how hurt she really was despite her best efforts to hide it when Finn turned her down even after he found out I was the father of Quinn's baby. I hated how stupid I was for not fighting for her or even taking her up on her offer of friendship.

While driving home, I zoned out. I paid no attention to anything going on around me. I was more focused on all of my thoughts of frustration and regret. Then I heard a song playing on the radio that caught my attention. It felt like someone had looked inside my head and wrote down everything I felt. It was at that moment that I realized maybe, just maybe, it wasn't too late. Maybe I could still fight for her. I knew I had to at least try. I would never be able to forgive myself if I didn't. I'd never regretted any decisions I made in the past and I sure as hell wasn't going to start living with them now. I had a plan. Now I just had to work out all the details. But first, I had to find that song.

As soon as I got home, I headed straight for my room to get on my computer. I pulled up the web browser and started typing in the lyrics. I'd never had a knack for remembering lyrics after only hearing a song but it was like these lyrics were permanently etched in my memory. "Perfect," I said to myself. Printing out the lyrics and chords, I sat down on my bed with my old acoustic guitar and started teaching myself the song.

I, Noah Puckerman, was going to show Rachel Marie Berry that we could make this work.


	2. Apologize

**AN: Thank you to everyone who reviewed and added my story to their alerts. I apologize that it took me so long to get the next chapter up but life has been a little crazy for me the last couple of weeks. I also need to thank my beta once again Lyric Dalton. She is fabulous. I hope you enjoy and would appreciate your feedback.**

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After going home and teaching myself the song, I started to think about exactly how I was going to pull this off. I knew the road ahead of me was not going to be easy. Nothing was easy when it came to Rachel but I kind of liked that about her. If I was going to get her back, I'd have to earn her trust back. Again, not going to be easy. And then, I would make my grand "I-wanna-be-with-through-thick-and-thin" gesture and pray that she didn't laugh in my face. Or slap me because I knew for a fact she hit hard.

I figured that I should start small. You know, build up to the big shebang. So as the school day came to an end and glee practice rolled around, I made sure to get there early. Rachel was big on punctuality so I knew I could catch her before anyone else was around. Walking into the room, I saw her setting up the chair on the risers. It was almost funny, watching her try and lift up a stack of chairs obviously taller than her tiny frame. I set my things down and went to grab a stack of chairs.

"Hey Rachel," I said as calm as possible.

"Hello Noah," she answered matter of fact.

"Listen Rach, I know I probably don't deserve this but I was wondering if you could forgive me for being such an ass to you on the bleachers. I understand if you can't but if you can and are willing I would really like to try being friends," I rambled, tapping my hand nervously on the chair. I probably sounded like an idiot to her or even more of an asshole but I was more concerned with staying calm at the moment. Inside, I was begging that she say yes. As pathetic as it may sound, life pretty much sucked without her.

After a long pause, I watched her take a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Well, you do seem rather sincere in your apology but, honestly, I forgave you weeks ago. As for being friends, I think we could possibly try that, if you're serious, that is," she told me, a slight smile gracing her beautiful face.

Just as I'm about to say something all nice and un-asshole, everyone else shows up. Great timing guys. I gave her a bright smile and simply said, "Thanks, Rach."

Once everyone was seated, Mr. Schuster whistled for our attention. "Ok guys, I thought we could rehearse some of the numbers we have been working on rather than starting a new song today. Before we start though I want to tell you about a new project I expect all of you to participate in. I want each one of you to find a song that has a special meaning to you and come up with your own arrangement and choreography. You should write out your arrangement and the choreography as the best performance will be performed as one of the numbers at Regionals. I am going to give you all till the end of the quarter to complete this. Now, let's get started."

The rest of practice went by fairly quick. While everyone gathered their belongings, I looked around and knew exactly what my grand gesture to Rachel would be. I had the song and the idea but I was going to need everyone to get involved which meant I was going to have to admit my feelings for Rachel. Great. It was definitely going to take a lot of convincing especially Finn and Quinn but I knew I could Kurt and Mercedes on my side if I let them do costumes. Not that Hummel would ever let me live it down. But that didn't matter. I had to show Rachel just how important she was to me.

I was in such a daze I didn't realize everyone had left until Mr. Schuster called my name. "Hey Puck," he spoke with concern. "Is everything ok? You seemed a bit out of it during rehearsal today. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"No I'm cool Mr. Schue," I started to say but then stopped. "On second thought I was wondering if you had a phone list with all the Glee kids phone numbers. I'm kind of hoping to get some help with my project for the end of the quarter."

"Sure Puck," he responded as he reached into his bag and pulled out an extra phone list. He seemed rather happy about the fact I was putting actual effort into the project.

"Thanks, Mr. Schue," I said gratefully as I grabbed my bag and guitar and walked out the door.

Wasting no time, I pulled my cell out of my pocket and dialed the person who I knew would be the most likely to believe me when I told them I wanted to be with Rachel Berry.


	3. Planning for Perfection

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Glee.

AN: Thank you again to everyone who had reviewed, added me to their story alerts, author alerts, and favorites. As always please review. I always appreciate any feedback. One last thank you to my beta Lyric Dalton who has had great input and helped make this story what it is thus far.

Now on with the story...

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It only took two rings before the line picked up. "Hello?" Artie said.

"Hey Artie. It's Puck," I said faster than what was necessary. Not to mention it was probably a bit suspicious.

"Hi Puck," he replied, hesitantly. "How, um, how did you get my number?"

"I, uh, I got it from Mr. Schue. I, uh, hope that's ok man," I said. Man, this was awkward. Honestly, I half expected him to hang up on me. The guy had every right to after all the hell I put him through over the years.

"Yeah, it's cool. I don't mean to sound rude but, uh, why exactly are you calling me anyway?" he questioned, still nervous. He probably figured I was planning something devious and I didn't blame him. My track record wasn't exactly clean.

"Well," I paused, "There's kind of two reasons why. First, I wanted to say that I'm, you know, I'm sorry for being a total jackass to you in the past. You're actually really cool and you're killer on the guitar. I hope you can forgive me." I paused again but when he didn't start tearing into me, I figured I'd go on. "I guess that kind of brings me to the next reason. I know I don't deserve your help but I was kind of hoping that you could help me with that project Mr. Schue gave us today."

"I appreciate your apology Puck. I guess I can forgive you considering you did choose us over football. You've seemed really different lately…and I mean that in a good way," he took a breath as if hesitant to continue, "I don't understand why you would need my help though."

"Ok. I guess I should start from the beginning," I said preparing myself for any of the number of possible responses I could get back from him. "I don't know if Rachel told you but about the time of the slushie wars and Coach Tanaka's ultimatum, she and I started hanging out. I guess, you could say we were dating. And as much as it pains me to admit it, she broke up with me. It was because she still had feelings for Finn and I still thought I had feelings for Quinn. I don't, though. Have feelings for Quinn, that is. I acted like I didn't care but over these past few weeks I realized I kind of miss her and I… really like her. It killed me to see how much Finn hurt her when he rejected her. I really wanted to toss him into a dumpster. She's just been missing that light in her eyes she had before and… I just want to be the person to restore that." I stopped for a moment after my long winded explanation to see if he had anything to say yet. I was waiting for him to start laughing. It's not like I was someone who shared my feelings. I was more of a punch-you-in-the-arm-and-say-"suck-it-up" kind of guy.

I waited for a few moments and the line was silent so I decided to continue, "Anyway, I guess that's why I'm calling you. I've got this plan for our project to win her back but I kind of need your help. In fact, I'm gonna need the whole club to join in. I know you guys have no reason to believe me or help me or anything because I know I was a douche bag but I just want to show Rachel that she can be happy again… That I can make her happy again. I want to protect her from anyone else ever hurting her," I only paused for a moment before I added one last thing, "Wow, I don't ever talk about my feelings. I probably sound like a friggin' tool."

It was at that moment that Artie finally started to speak. With more sincerity in his voice than I had ever heard before he said, "You don't sound like a tool. You sound like someone who is in love. But I have to know one thing before I agree to anything. Do you love her, Puck? She may be annoying and bossy and a major pain most of the time but she's still one of my friends and I don't want to see her get hurt."

I had to think for a minute as his question caught me off guard. Did I love Rachel Berry? I had never loved anyone before except my mom and sister. I then answered as honestly as I could in that moment, "I don't know if it's love because I've never really been in love before, but if it's not I think I definitely could love her."

"That's good enough for me. Count me in. So, what did you have in mind?" he inquired.

"I was thinking that maybe you could text everyone and ask them to meet us in the gym during free period. I kind of figured that Rachel always goes to practice in the music room or the auditorium at that time and she definitely would never set foot in the gym willingly," I told him as I finished I realized I was starting to get excited.

"Sounds good but what exactly do I say if they ask why we need to meet?" Artie asked, always thinking one step ahead.

"Tell them that you finally came up with a mash up for Bust A Move and want to surprise Mr. Schue. They'd believe it coming from you. Not so much from me," I said hopeful he would agree to my lame excuse.

"Ok. I'll send everyone a text. One last thing Puck, I'm glad you trusted me enough to tell me. I actually think you and Rachel are perfect for each other. I'll see you tomorrow," he replied and then hung up before I could say anything else.

That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Now, I just had to convince everyone else. I knew that when I told Mercedes and Kurt that they could design the costumes barred that there are no feathers they'd be in. As for Tina, she seemed pretty cool and laid back. Mike and Matt shouldn't be a problem at all since they always had my back. Brittany and Santana would agree as well as long as I can get Quinn in. Which finally brought me to Finn and Quinn. I know it wouldn't be easy. Actually, on second thought, I figured Quinn wouldn't be so hard to get in on the plan. It seemed now that everyone had pretty much turned their back on her since the pregnancy except for us in glee. She actually has formed a quasi friendship with Rachel. On the other hand, I couldn't predict how Finn would react. I mean, it's cruel enough to reject someone in public but it would be downright heartless to stand in the way of her being happy with someone else. I suppose I'd find out come tomorrow.


	4. Team Work

AN: Hey Guys! Sorry it has been so long. My computer crashed and was finally able to borrow one from my mom. I am having a bit of writer's block as well but hope to have an update soon. A big thank you to my beta Lyric Dalton for continuing to check in on my progress.

AN2: A reminder that I do not own anything associated with Glee.

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Walking into school that morning, I was nervous to face everyone during free period. Part of me took comfort at the thought that there probably wasn't any other group that was as forgiving or understanding as the people in glee. This was going to be a lot of work but if I pulled it off I just might have a chance of Rachel taking me seriously.

The first couple of periods actually went a lot faster than I'd thought they would. As I was walking down the hall towards the gym, I ran into Rachel. I really didn't have time to stop but knowing that I needed to earn back her friendship for this plan to work I paused for a moment.

"Hey Rach! How's your day going?" I asked trying not to sound rushed.

"Um, it's pretty good. How about you?" she asked sweetly.

"It's good. I don't mean to cut this short but I kind of told Matt and Mike I would meet them in the gym for free period. But maybe I'll see you at lunch?" I hoped she'd say yes. I really hoped so.

"I was thinking about going to the music room to practice but, yeah, maybe I will see you then," she responded, looking as if she was fighting an internal battle with herself.

"Cool. Hopefully, I'll see you then," I finished as I started walking back to the gym.

Walking into the gym, I saw that everybody was already gathered on the bleachers. 'I can do this' I thought to myself as I walked over to face everyone.

"Puck," Mercedes spoke up, "What's this all about? Artie said you wanted to talk to all of us. And shouldn't Rachel be here. She's always the first one to show up for a meeting."

'Here goes nothing' I thought before I began to explain. "Rachel isn't here because she wasn't invited. Before you go thinking that I'm being a douche bag for not including her, this is actually all about her."

"W-w-what do you mean?" Tina asked.

"Most of you probably know that me and Rachel were dating for like four days before she broke up with me. She said that she couldn't date me when she still had feelings for Finn. I told her I was going to break up with her anyway but she knew I wasn't. I was just being a tool. I know I said a while back that she makes me want to light myself on fire but once we started hanging out I kind of figured out she really wasn't all that different from me. Rachel may be annoying, bossy, egotistical and all but I guess that's how you could describe me. She's only that way because she's determined to make something of herself and contrary to popular belief I have plans of getting out of this crappy cow town too." I must have started rambling because everyone but Artie was staring at me wide eyed. That seems to be my new problem.

"So, are you trying to tell us you like Rachel?" I was surprised to hear the question coming from Finn.

"Yeah. That's also why I need your help. I kind of have a whole plan to win her back. I want to show her that we're going places on our own but that together we could be totally unstoppable. She's the first person who I ever felt really believed in me and I want to make sure she knows I believe in her, in us. This is where you all come in. I knew from the moment Mr. Schue announced the project exactly what song I wanted to do. I know we were supposed to just write out choreography in case our song is chosen but I was hoping that you would all actually perform the number with me and sing back up. Kurt and Mercedes, I was thinking you could design the costumes. But absolutely no feathers. And I'd really appreciate no spandex. I know Artie has already agreed but what do you all say?" I asked waiting for anyone to respond.

After a few silent moments I heard everyone start to shout out their agreements. I think I even heard Kurt say, "It's about time." Immediately everyone moved into planning mode. There was going to need to be rehearsals scheduled, costume fitted, choreography worked on, etc. In the midst of the madness Finn walked towards me with Quinn at his side.

"Look man, we just wanted to tell you that we are happy to help. We know things haven't exactly been great between the three of us lately but if Rachel makes you happy then we've got your back. It's the least we can do considering I was a jerk for crushing Rachel in public," Finn said with a sincerity I didn't expect to hear from him.

When the bell rang, we all left the gym and headed towards the cafeteria as it was finally time for lunch. I didn't eat breakfast this morning. I was too worried about asking for everyone's help and I'm now starving. After grabbing a tray with food piled up, I headed over to where the rest of the club was sitting. Who would have thought that these people would actually become my friends? I don't think I could go back to my old ways even if I wanted to. These people showed me it's ok to be yourself.

I was lost in my own thoughts until I heard my name being called. I looked up and realized that Rachel had sat down at the table and everyone had strategically placed themselves so that the only seat left was next to me.

"Noah, are you ok?" she asked concern filling her voice.

"Yeah I'm fine. I guess I just spaced out for a minute. I thought you were going to practice during lunch," I said trying to hide just exactly how happy I was she decided to come.

"I was going to but I saw all of you over here and decided that it wouldn't kill me to socialize instead of practicing for once. It's kind of nice to finally have real friends," she said blushing slightly.

"Funny, I was just thinking the same thing," I said as I chuckled.

"What do you mean Noah? You have always been Mr. Popular and had tons of friends," she asked puzzled by my statement.

"That might be the way it seemed but let's be honest. All those people were just scared that if they were on my good side and did whatever I told them that I'd toss them into the dumpster or do something like that to them. No one really cared about me except Finn and I was even an ass to him most the time. It's just nice to finally have people I can trust and lean on." I admitted to her.

Then she spoke words that took me aback as they weren't words I heard very often, "I'm proud of you, Noah."

Rachel really was a far better person than anyone could ever deserve to have in their life. Once you got past the whole controlling diva exterior, you found someone who was kind, caring, bright, funny, and driven. It doesn't hurt that she is hot as hell, too. Those tiny skirts and tight sweater vests were enough to kill any teenage guy. She definitely still made me want to set myself on fire but for an entirely different reason than before I got to know her. Hey, give me a break. I may be changing but I am still a guy after all. Some things you just can't control.

Once again getting distracted and realizing I was taking entirely too long to answer, I responded with a simple, "Thanks."

I think she figured that I felt awkward which in all honestly I did a little bit so she quickly changed the subject. "I was thinking that maybe I would see if everyone wanted to come over to my house after practice today and watch a movie. What do you think?" she asked.

"Um, yeah, I think that would be cool of you. I am sure everyone would come," I tried to respond in a cool voice not wanting to sound thrilled. The more time I could spend with her the better. Even if it did mean everyone else would be hanging around. It was then that the next bell rang, signaling it was time to finish the rest of our classes for the day. All in all, the day had gone pretty smoothly. Definitely better than I could have ever expected. There was still a month and a half before the end of the quarter and a lot could happen between now and then. I just had to keep thinking positive for the time being and have faith that this would all work out.


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